Laurence Yep's Golden Mountain Chronicles
With the first books published in the 1970s and the most recent book published within the past 10 years, Laurence Yep's Golden Mountain Chronicles follows the Young family from China to America as they live throughout American history. Not all of the protagonists are immigrants, but they all touch upon immigration stories.
Listed in chronological order of each book's setting, here are the relevant immigration stories:
The Serpent's Children - In 1849, eight year-old Cassia Young's family fights the Manchus. Her little brother Foxfire leaves to find his fortune in Gold Mountain America.
Mountain Light - In 1855, Squeaky Lau's family is in the middle of a feud with Cassia Young's family, but when the two actually meet, they develop a romantic friendship. To prove himself, Squeaky leaves China and travels to America.
Dragon's Gate - In 1867, Cassia's adopted son Otter follows his uncle Firefox to California to help build the transcontinental railroad during the worst winter possible.
Dragonwings - In 1903, eight year-old Moon Shadow Lee immigrates to San Francisco's Chinatown to work for his father's laundry business, and he helps fulfill his father's dream of flight.
Laurence Yep's following novels, all published more recently, feature American-born Chinese protagonists, though immigration stories are significant themes in the books as well. Really, they belong in Week 4 when we cover the hyphenated American experience, but here they are as part of the Golden Mountain Chronicles:
The Traitor - In 1885, Otter's Chinese American son Joseph meets and befriends white American Michael Purdy in a Wyoming mining town. Told from the perspectives of both boys.
Child of the Owl - In 1965, twelve year-old American-born Casey moves to San Francisco's Chinatown to live with her grandmother, who tells Casey about her Chinese immigrant heritage.
Sea Glass - In 1970, Craig Chin's family moves from San Francisco's Chinatown to the small town of Conception, California, where he faces intolerance.
Thief of Hearts - In 1995, half Chinese American, half white, all American Stacy, Casey's daughter, lives in a San Francisco suburb and is forced to confront her Chinese heritage when her parents ask her to befriend a newly immigrated Chinese schoolmate.
As a whole, the scope of history taken from the immigration and Chinese American angle shown in Laurence Yep's Golden Mountain Chronicles is impressive. As I am reading my way through these novels, I often question whether the Chinese-born protagonists are overly too American in their voices and points of view, but Yep's fast-paced writing style often propels me forward towards the end.
I noticed that as soon as we enter the 1960s, the Chinese Americans are American-born rather than immigrants, which are secondary characters in these later novels. This shift in protagonist's original nationality makes sense because Yep is chronicling a Chinese American family. Yet, there are still many modern-day Chinese immigrants adjusting to the strange country that is America. Interestingly enough, all the contemporary Asian American immigrant novels that I'm researching are not about Chinese immigrants. Anyone have any suggestions? Also, I'm wondering are there any other immigrant series written by one author.
Listed in chronological order of each book's setting, here are the relevant immigration stories:
The Serpent's Children - In 1849, eight year-old Cassia Young's family fights the Manchus. Her little brother Foxfire leaves to find his fortune in Gold Mountain America.
Mountain Light - In 1855, Squeaky Lau's family is in the middle of a feud with Cassia Young's family, but when the two actually meet, they develop a romantic friendship. To prove himself, Squeaky leaves China and travels to America.
Dragon's Gate - In 1867, Cassia's adopted son Otter follows his uncle Firefox to California to help build the transcontinental railroad during the worst winter possible.
Dragonwings - In 1903, eight year-old Moon Shadow Lee immigrates to San Francisco's Chinatown to work for his father's laundry business, and he helps fulfill his father's dream of flight.
Laurence Yep's following novels, all published more recently, feature American-born Chinese protagonists, though immigration stories are significant themes in the books as well. Really, they belong in Week 4 when we cover the hyphenated American experience, but here they are as part of the Golden Mountain Chronicles:
The Traitor - In 1885, Otter's Chinese American son Joseph meets and befriends white American Michael Purdy in a Wyoming mining town. Told from the perspectives of both boys.
Child of the Owl - In 1965, twelve year-old American-born Casey moves to San Francisco's Chinatown to live with her grandmother, who tells Casey about her Chinese immigrant heritage.
Sea Glass - In 1970, Craig Chin's family moves from San Francisco's Chinatown to the small town of Conception, California, where he faces intolerance.
Thief of Hearts - In 1995, half Chinese American, half white, all American Stacy, Casey's daughter, lives in a San Francisco suburb and is forced to confront her Chinese heritage when her parents ask her to befriend a newly immigrated Chinese schoolmate.
As a whole, the scope of history taken from the immigration and Chinese American angle shown in Laurence Yep's Golden Mountain Chronicles is impressive. As I am reading my way through these novels, I often question whether the Chinese-born protagonists are overly too American in their voices and points of view, but Yep's fast-paced writing style often propels me forward towards the end.
I noticed that as soon as we enter the 1960s, the Chinese Americans are American-born rather than immigrants, which are secondary characters in these later novels. This shift in protagonist's original nationality makes sense because Yep is chronicling a Chinese American family. Yet, there are still many modern-day Chinese immigrants adjusting to the strange country that is America. Interestingly enough, all the contemporary Asian American immigrant novels that I'm researching are not about Chinese immigrants. Anyone have any suggestions? Also, I'm wondering are there any other immigrant series written by one author.
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posted by Emily Jiang at 1:36 AM
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